About: George Leef

Recent Posts by George Leef

Whenever government subsidies anything, one result is that the beneficiaries will starting using all kinds of rhetorical deception and flim-flammery to keep the subsidies going. They’ll say that the subsidies are “good for the state” (or the country) when in fact they’re good for a tiny number of individuals in the state. In this post,Continue Reading

You might think that Luddite arguments would be too embarrassing even for dyed-in-the-wool progressives, but not Robert Reich. In the letter below, Don Boudreaux demolishes his absurd notion that progress is horrifying: 23 March 2015 Editor, Alternet Dear Editor: In what is a prime candidate for the most economically mistaken essay ever penned, Robert ReichContinue Reading

Yes, argues John Tamny in this piece. Tamny is terrific at finding interesting ways to explain economics to ordinary people and here he shows that just as Jennifer Anniston’s choice to remain single at present pertains to economic incentives, so do the decisions of many unemployed people. They could find work if they had aContinue Reading

Many writers who have a weak grasp on economic reality confuse poverty and inequality. Almost always, they leap to the conclusion that if there is inequality (or at least greater inequality than they think is acceptable), then government has to do something about it. Actually, all that government should do is stop impeding those individualsContinue Reading

On Tuesday, outgoing UNC president Tom Ross gave a talk at the City Club. It was laden with the sentiments we expect from “progressive” types who have been imbued with the conventional thinking about higher education. (Remember, Jim Hunt used to say that the UNC system was the state’s “economic engine.”) In today’s Pope CenterContinue Reading

A few weeks ago, JLF received an officious letter from Senators Boxer, Whitehouse and Markley, demanding a lot of information about any funding that had gone to global warming skeptics. Many other organizations received the same letter. In this Cato@Liberty post, Patrick Michaels (who has spoken at Shaftesbury) writes about this nasty bit of intimidation.Continue Reading

As Donald Boudreaux notes in the letter below, while some studies have claimed that raising the minimum wage does not lead to unemployment among low-skill workers (studies that are short-run in focus), advocates don’t bother to advance any theory to explain why labor should be different from all other goods and services. (I will alsoContinue Reading

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against the NC State Board of Dental Examiners in an antitrust case that challenged its habit of attacking non-dentists who offer teeth whitening services. It was apparently quite diligent in trying to stifle competition. Now, as we read in Dan Way’s story, the Board is under fire for itsContinue Reading